1. Plug in the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the back of the TV,
taking note of which port you have plugged in to. Then using your TV remote or
the buttons on the chassis scroll through the 'Inputs' until you get to that
port. The screen should be blank.
2. Now you
have to tell your laptop to send a signal down the HDMI port. In Windows, head
into Control Panel and select 'Adjust screen resolution' from the list beneath
'Appearance and Personalization'. In the next screen you should see two
different displays. (If not, check that everything is physically connected
properly.)
If all is well, you will be able to see two displays, one
of which will be disabled. This is why there is nothing on your TV screen.
Using the laptop, click on the icon for the second monitor and choose 'Extend
the desktop onto this monitor'. Hit 'Apply'. If it works you should now see a
Windows desktop background photograph on the TV. If not, don't panic - try
again. I couldn't tell you why, but for some reason this process doesn't always
work the first time.Obviously if it continues not to work, you have a physical problem. At this stage you have my permission to panic. But then check that the cable and both ports work by using them for other HD tasks.
In theory, you should be able to drive your TV at its native resolution, but this isn't always possible. It will depend on your exact TV and laptop's capabilities. A common problem is that the Windows desktop doesn't fit properly on your screen, either with black borders or too large and missing portions. Look in your TV's picture or image menu to find the scaling or aspect ratio setting and try and find an 'unscaled', 'pixel by pixel' or 'dot by dot' setting. It's also worth turning off any sharpening or image processing effects for the best quality.
4. Now you have to make sure that audio makes it from your PC to your TV's speakers.Most of the time, audio will continue to play from your laptop's speakers. To fix this, open the Control Panel and click on Sound. On the playback tab, you should see more than one device. If not, right-click in the white space and choose Show Disabled Devices. Hopefully your TV or at least HDMI speakers will appear in the list and you can select them instead of the laptop's.
If you still hear no audio, check that the sound isn't muted, and that the volume is set at a reasonable level both on your computer and on the TV. You may need to adjust both to get something appropriate - and if you want to control volume from your TV remote remember to set the PC volume at a level from which turning the TV volume up and down is meaningful.
5. Finally, you want to actually watch something! Because we have in effect set up the TV as an extension of our desktop, this couldn't be simpler. To watch something on iPlayer or YouTube, or from a DVD, for instance, you simply browse to and set up your chosen content on your laptop screen as you normally would. Then click and drag that window off to the right of your PC's desktop. As it goes over the edge of your computer screen, you should see it appear on the TV. You can then enable to full screen option so that the content fills the whole of your TV, and use the controls on your laptop to dictate playback just as you normally would.
